Method of amplification



y 9, 1929- J. M. SCHMIERER 1.720.352

uzgnon or AIIPLIFICATION Filed Doc. 24, 1924 INVENTOR BY WW A 2 M ATTO NEYS Patented July 9, 1929. p

UNlT-ED v STATES 1,720,352 PATENT OFFICE.

, J'OHANNES urormm. .scnmnnna, or ucn'rnarnnnn, NEAR BERLIN, GERMANY, A8-

sIeNoa'ro rm; rum: aamo rarnu'rs CORPORATION, 01'. NEW roan, n. Y.

METHOD or AMPLIFICATION.

Application fled lle ccmber 24, 1924, Serial m. 757,854,ane in Germany "November a0, 1923.

Applications covering the subject mat ter of this invention have been filed in Germany on November 20, 1923, and November 5 My invention relates to a newsystem of amplification and to a method'of obtaining the desired supply .line conditions for the use of such systems.

In many electriccircuit installations it is desirable to avoid the effects of voltage variations inthe apparatus connected therein This is especially true in systems of amplification.

My invention provides a system of con--' 1 nection for amplifying alternating currents having no connection between the source of supply voltage and the source of current to be amplified and with only one connection between the voltage supply source an the am lified circuit.

Furt ermore, it is desirable to use gas discharge tubes such as glow lamps insysterns of amplification of alternating current but in. such systems heretofore in use it has not been possible to secure the proper line voltage conditions to permit effective use of such lamps.

One object of my invention is to provide a system of connections that will stabilize the voltage supplied to the amplifying circuit employing glow discharge tubes.

It is a further object of my invention to provide an amplifying circuit employing a glow discharge lamp, with suitable connec-' tions theretoofsucha nature as to achieve the desired amplification.

By my invention. a stable voltage supply is obtained through the provision of a divided circuit having a ballast resistor-inone leg 40 thereof and having in the other leg'thereof one or more glow discharge lamps each having a-resistor in circuit therewith- 'By'this arrangement the current voltagefunction in the ballast resistor is such'that the current is maintained practically constant and the current voltage function in the glow discharge lamps is such as to maintain the voltage constant. a

For the higher potentials and currents it may be necessary to employ a group of ballast resistors connected in parallel and arrange the two parallel circuits in series relation between the opposite sides of the sup-. ply line. By th's arrangement a practically invariobtaining a stabilized voltage in. accordance .nected to one side of the line. Connected to glow discharge tube having an anode and a cathode and two control electrodes. Theanode and cathode are connected to the source of supplyand the current to beamplified is connected to the control electrode.

The tube is connected to a transformer of the receiving apparatus and through a po- 'tential divider that is connected across the supply line.

My invention may be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings,

wherein, the dra'wingis a diagrammatic illustration of the circuit arrangement for 8O with-the principles offmy invention. a

Referringto thedrawing, reference char acters I and II represent the supplylines or net work. A ballast resistor V is conthe other side of the lineare a plurality of glpw lamps G each having in series therewith a resistance W,-the glow' lamps and associated resistances being connected in parallel. The parallel'connected glow lamps are connected in series with the ballast resistor V between the opposite sidesof the supply line.

A' ballast resistorv responds promptly to fluctuations in the line voltage and tends to maintain the current practically constant but the range of voltage regulation'afiorded thereby has been found to be insufficient when used alone. ,By connecting a ballast resistor in series with one or more glow dis charge lamps, the desiredjvoltage regulation is obtained. I j 1. a Y Accordingly, apparatus may be so connected across the line through this potential divider circuit that variations ofllne voltage are without effect thereon.

As an instance of this operation supposing the line voltage is 220 volts and the glow discharge tube is to be operated at 180 volts,

a ballast resistor is preferably used which will operate from to volts and will pass a practically constant current. Inthls manner it is ossible tocompensate for fluctuationsof t e net work voltages from 200 to 240 volts, or about lus or minus 10%. The resistance of the ba ast resistor at cold state causes then a drop of voltage of at the most 20 volts so that even the lowest line voltage.

instantaneousl to the fluctuations of the line voltage. As t e heat inertia of the ballast resistor decreases with the stren h of current that can becarried by it an for which vit is designed, it is preferable when dealing with large currents to' connect several ballast resistors in parallel. 'When a suitable ballast resistor-is used, the strength of current varies qfmm the average value only 4 about 8% for thelargest range of regulation. Such a regulation is, however, insuflicient.

According to this invention, there is secured a practically constant voltage, which is achieved b connecting in series with one or' several ba ast resistors one or several lightly loaded glow discharge tubes.

,When loaded in this manner within the of the normal operation voltage fluctuations of plus or minus 1% would cause in I ordinary lowdischarge lamp variations in the strengt of current of about 10%. If,

however, the strength of current as explained above is-inaintained within 3% by means of the series ballast resistors, then the terminal voltage of the'glow discharge tubes will vary at: the most on y -.3%. 4 It will beseen that the above arrangement is takin" overthe function of an electric filarrangingm'an alternating current a' i 1 ing.

ter whic is generally employed when a line voltage is to be usedfwith amplifyingdevices.- v.

' The above described -arran'gement permits ing'circuit at A as represented in the raw- While my invention has been'described as usin glow dischar devices, it is equally.

. applicable to other 'e ectron emitting devices,

whether for purpose of amplification .or dee tection. 1

" Such modifications and others may be inade'within the spirit and scope of my vention and all such modifications are intended to be covered by the appended claims.

, erated from said source, and a, network forsmoothing out the fluctuations ofsaid power sup 'ly including. a current stabilizer in series wit said translating device and a voltage regulator com rising a vice in paralle with sai translating device and a resistance in series with said glow discharge device. I

' 3. The method of operating translatingdevices from a source of'electric current sub jected to variations and fluctuations, consisting of passing such current through a current stabilizing device, and shunting b a glow discharge device a portion of sai current from saidtranslating device to'smooth out said variations. 7 4. In a. ower supply s stem a plurality of i-ndepen ent circuits eac including a glow discharge tube and a resistance element connected-in series, a power supply line, a connection between one side of said line with one 1 terminal of each of said resistance elements,

a connection between one side of each of-said glow discharge tubes and the other side of said line, said last mentioned connection including aballast resistor and connections to a load in parallel to said plurality of independent circuits.

5. The method of operating an electric amplifyin device'from a source of electric cur rent su jectedto variationsand fluctuations,

consisting of assing such current throu h a current stabilizing device and shunting y a glow discharge device a portion of said current from said amplifying device'to smooth out said. variations and fluctuations. 1 In testimony whereof- I afiix my signature.

' JOHANNES MICHAEL SCHMIERER.

low discharge de 

